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Mount Rainier National Park = Visitors, Money, and Jobs for Local Economy

Ashford, WA - A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 1,191,754 visitors in 2010 spent $35,389,000 in Mount Rainier National Park and in communities near the park. That spending supported 505 jobs in the local areas.

"The people and the business owners in communities near national parks have always known their economic value," park Superintendent Randy King said. "Mount Rainier National Park is clean, green fuel for the engine that drives our local economy."

Most of the spending/jobs are related to lodging, food, and beverage service (52 percent) followed by other retail (29 percent), entertainment/amusements (10 percent), gas and local transportation (7 percent), and groceries (2 percent).

The figures are based on $12 billion of direct spending by 281 million visitors in 394 national parks and nearby communities and are included in annual, peer-reviewed, visitor spending analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel Stynes of Michigan State University for the National Park Service.

Across the U.S., local visitor spending added a total of $31 billion to the national economy and supported more than 258,000 jobs, an increase of $689 million and 11,500 jobs over 2009.